Cravings
by onetrueslayer
Summary: A one shot that takes place after 10x21. Jackson can't sleep and walks out to the kitchen to get some food. That's not all he finds... Japril fluff and cuteness. (Sorry I'm horrible at summaries)


**Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in forever. Things have been crazy, but last week's episode inspired me to take the time to write this. Thank you for reading! Feel free to leave some feedback! **

**Spoilers from 10x21**

* * *

Jackson had been drifting in and out of sleep for the past three hours. Sleeping just wasn't the same without his wife next to him. The first two nights without her were hard enough, but now it seemed as though getting any real sleep was impossible.

April had dropped a bomb on Jackson by telling him she was pregnant. He was still trying to process everything. As a married couple they still had a lot of figuring out to do, but when April breathed the words that she was pregnant Jackson was pleasantly shocked. The timing is terrible for them, but timing was never their strong suit. Despite all of the fighting Jackson couldn't help but smile at the thought of a baby with her dimples and curls and his bright eyes and warm skin. The daddy to be said he was all in well over a year ago and he still meant that now.

* * *

_After April dropped the news they just stood there for what felt like hours. Jackson finally broke the silence by clearing his throat. "You should stay here tonight." His voice was strained and quiet, but he couldn't bare the silence any longer. _

"_Jackson, I don't…I don't know if that's a good idea. We're still fighting and this baby doesn't make that go away." April said finally looking up at him. _

_Jackson sucked in a breath, "It's almost midnight and you have to be at work early tomorrow. I know you must be tired with the…" Jackson's eyes drifted down to her stomach hoping that would finish the rest of his sentence. Honestly, he didn't know how to put into words what he was feeling. _

_April's eye's drifted down to her shoes. "I just…" _

"_I'll take the guest bedroom." Jackson said too quickly. He wanted to step forward and reach out for his wife, but the voice inside his head told him he needed to respect her space. Instead he lowered his voice to just above a whisper and looked into his wife's eyes. "April, please." _

_April had a hard time saying no. She was completely exhausted, both emotionally and physically. And that look that her husband was giving her wasn't helping her out either. Reluctantly April gave in. "Okay. Thank you." _

* * *

Jackson had given up on sleeping tonight and made his way to the kitchen. They usually kept the light above the stove on and he was grateful for that tonight. He didn't want to wake his wife up while fumbling for the light switch. Jackson pulled out some leftovers from a few nights ago. He let out a chuckle while grabbing the Tupperware container.

"What's so funny?"

Jackson nearly dropped the container of pasta at the sound of the familiar voice coming from behind him. He swallowed and turned around slowly. "Uh...nothing. It's stupid. Wait…what is that?"

In front of him was his wife sitting on a bar stool at the counter. She was sitting in her pjs with a bag of barbeque chips and a plastic bowl.

"I asked you a question first Mr. Avery." April said smirking. She then took a chip from the bag and dipped it into the bowl.

"It's just uh...I'm eating leftovers and found it kind of…ironic." Jackson scrunched up his nose as he saw the dark contents that were once in the bowl now covering the barbeque chip his wife was about to eat. "Your turn now. What the hell is that?"

"I thought you found leftovers depressing…" April raised an eyebrow at him.

Jackson was not about to tell his wife why he was eating those leftovers. His reasoning was more than depressing; it was pathetic. No, he would not be telling her that he was eating those leftovers because it was the last meal they had made together before everything blew up. Instead Jackson adverted his eyes back to the substance in question.

Jackson shrugged his shoulders. "Eh…Now what is that?"

"Why don't you come over and try for yourself!" The red head said mischievously.

Jackson slowly made his way over the bowl. He was now standing over it and inches from his wife. Jackson didn't want to sound like a crazed teenager, but being this close to her for the first time in days was clouding his brain.

He took a whiff of the contents and let out a chuckle. "Is that…chocolate pudding?"

April responded with a little nod.

"And you're dipping barbeque chips into that? April babe, that's disgusting…" Jackson scrunched up his nose and looked up at her.

"Hey! I've seen how much hot sauce you put on your food. I wouldn't be surprised if I caught you pouring it on your ice cream!" April joked smacking his arm lightly.

Jackson reached over her to grab a few chips and stuffed them in his mouth. "Yeah, but that's different. Hot sauce is a condiment." He let out while chomping on the rest of his chips.

"BARBEQUE SAUCE IS A CONDIMENT!" April let out having her voice go a few octaves higher than normal. "What's wrong with putting some pudding on it? It's quite delicious, you should try some."

"Tempting…but I think I'll pass." Jackson went to turn away, but familiar fingers landed on his arm.

"Sweetie, you forgot something."

His heart began racing as he turned around to meet his wife's gaze. Instead of being met with warm eyes he was met with a handful of pudding being smeared across his nose.

"Whoops, did I do that? I was just trying to get some in your mouth…I promise." April said pouting and batting her eyelashes.

Jackson blinked a few times and then smiled. "Oh it's on woman!" He dipped both hands into the chocolaty goo and went for his wife.

April let out a squeal as she quickly grabbed the bowl and ran into the living room. "Ooo too slow! Sorry hun, but good luck catching me. You may not know this, but I ran track all the way through college."

"I should've guessed. You were pretty hard to keep up with when we were running out on our wedding day." The words came out before he could control them and Jackson was hoping this didn't ruin the fun they were having right now. Instead of waiting for her to reply, the plastic surgeon grabbed a nearby spoon and flung pudding in his wife's direction.

"Ha! You missed…but I won't. And it looks like you're all out of ammo. Poor whittle Jack-man." April said sprinting towards the kitchen where Jackson now was. She collided with him and poured the rest of the pudding onto her husband's head. "Looks like I won!"

Jackson ran a hand over his face to get some of the chocolate mess out of his eyes. April was still standing in front of him celebrating. He knew how much his wife loved to win…but she wasn't the only one.

April was snapped out of her victory trance when she felt a cold and sticky substance on her face. "Jackson Eugene Avery! Please tell me that you did not just do that!"

Jackson chuckled through his teeth. "Whoops…my hand must've…slipped? And you know it's hard to see with all of this pudding in my eyes. Hmmm wonder how that got there…" Jackson teased lifting his chin.

April stood in front of him with her mouth agape. "Uh huh. I see."

Jackson walked over to the sink and wet a paper towel. Walking back over to his wife he gestured to the towel in his hand and April's cheek. "Here let me get this off."

Before April could protest, Jackson had one hand on her jaw and another working to get the pudding off of her face. Things still weren't okay between them, but it was nice to forget about their problems for a few minutes. She was mad and hurt, but she still missed her husband...her best friend. April moved one of her hands and placed it on top of the one Jackson was using to clean her face. His movements stilled and they locked eyes.

April let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in. "Thank you. I…I think you got it all." She moved her hand back to her side.

Jackson blinked a few times and let out a whisper. "You're welcome. Anything for you." He loved this woman and their baby inside of her so much. No matter what they were going through, he knew this would always be true.

The small space between them felt electrically charged and an awkward silence fell over the apartment for a few moments. It was interrupted by a small voice. "We should get some sleep."

That wasn't the first time Jackson heard those words. He was pretty sure that like the time before, they wouldn't be sharing a bed. "Yeah…we should. I'll clean this up, you need your rest more than I do."

April nodded and turned to walk away. Before she could get out of the kitchen she felt her husband gently grab her arm. She turned to face him. "Jackson…we can't. Not right now. Not with the way things are."

Jackson's eyes slowly met hers. "I know. I just wanted to say goodnight."

April felt two strong arms pull her in for an embrace and a pair of lips kiss the top of her head.

Jackson stood there for a moment with his head on top of his wife's red curls, breathing in the soothing scent. "Goodnight baby, I love you." Jackson muffled into April's hair. Jackson felt a smile against his chest.

"Which one?" April said wrapping her arms tighter around her husband.

A smile spread across Jackson's face as he pulled back to look his wife in the eyes. "Both."

April felt tears begin to dwell at the corners of her eyes. Before she could let them fall she went to walk away.

"Goodnight, I love you too." For the first time since she found out she was pregnant she felt like _they_ could do this.

Jackson watched his wife walk down the hall with a smile on his face. _We can do this. _

* * *

**I don't know if any of you all are One Tree Hill fans, but that's where I stole Jackson's middle name from. Hope you enjoyed reading this :)**


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